COVID-19 VACCINATION

Prioritize ward staff: doctors

More than 200 Alberta doctors have signed an open letter urging the government to speed up the vaccination of health-care workers in dedicated COVID-19 units.

Dr. Tanya Tran, family medicine doctor at Grey Nuns Hospital, signed the letter and said the situation is urgent because nurses, physicians and staff — many of whom have been redeployed from other areas — are continuously exposed to patients with COVID-19 in these special wards.

“The issue is all of our patients have COVID. Every single one of them is coughing, every single one of them is sick enough to be in the hospital. Therefore we feel our risk warrants consideration for vaccination before other people who may have a risk of seeing COVID patients,” said Tran Wednesday.

The call comes as three healthcare workers have died from COVID-19 in Alberta. About twothirds of deaths due to COVID-19 in Alberta have occurred in longterm care homes or supportive living sites.

Along with respiratory therapists and staff in ICU and emergency departments, staff at long-term care and designated supportive living facilities are among the first phases of recipients planned for December and January vaccine rollouts.

The next phase, beginning in February, includes seniors over the age of 75, First Nations communities and Métis settlements, as well as health-care workers in medical, surgical and COVID-19 units or operating rooms.

Tran said being passed over for vaccination has taken a toll on burnt-out health-care workers, adding they understand the risks of the job.

“We've seen staff transmission, (and) we've actually had to admit our own staff as patients, which is really demoralizing,” she said.

Tran said she only wants to see staff on COVID units given the same priority as their colleagues in ICU and emergency.

In its letter, the group of doctors said their ability to staff regular medicine units is precarious and called it “dumbfounding” that their colleagues were not getting immunization.

“These are the unsung heroes of our battles against this virus,” they wrote.

The group of 219 doctors also criticized what they called a lack of transparency on the provincial plan guiding COVID vaccination.

Steve Buick, press secretary to Health Minister Tyler Shandro, said in a statement the evidence shows risk of death due to COVID-19 is by far the highest among older seniors, especially those living in continuing care facilities, so they are first priority.

“Even if we could vaccinate 10,000 per day, we would not have the supply from Ottawa to do it,” he said, adding they cannot move on to other priority groups until they have enough doses.

As of Wednesday, Alberta had received almost 60,000 doses, but there are 28,000 continuing care residents and AHS has over 100,000 employees, most of whom work directly in health care and not administratively, said Buick.

Alberta has administered 30,033 doses, the second-highest rate of immunizations per 100,000 residents in the country after P.E.I.

Alberta Health spokesman Tom Mcmillan said Wednesday the vaccine distribution approach was determined collaboratively by Alberta Health and AHS, and is in line with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.